Monday Nov 11, 2024
FT
Monday Nov 11, 2024
Wednesday, 13 July 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The National Conference on Green Practices 2016, the first ever to be organised by a Staff Development Centre of a state university has received tremendous response from academics and other stakeholders. The conference is the first of its kind to be organised and is expected to bring together researchers and policy makers in the field to share their experience and expertise.
The theme of the conference is ‘Institutionalising green practices: green for growth’.
The conference will be held on the 14th July at the Water’s Edge, Battaramulla and will feature a keynote speech, a plenary speech, symposia, paper presentations and a photographic exhibition. A poster competition for schools in the Gampaha district and non-academic staff members of the university is organised parallel to the conference. The school competition was jointly organised with the Environment committee of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) and the Lions Club Wattala. The Central Environmental Authority, Hayleys Group, Nippon Paints and Holcim are co-sponsors of the conference. The media sponsors are Mauwbima and Ceylon Today newspapers.
The keynote speaker will be Mangala Yapa, who is a Marine Engineer/Naval Architect and a Chartered Engineer by profession and has served in a number of national, regional and international committees related to the maritime industry. He holds a Master of Science degree in Engineering (Hons.) from the Astrakhan Technical University of Russia and a MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management (PIM), Sri Lanka. Yapa is the Managing Director of the Agency for Development, Ministry of Development Strategies & International Trade and prior to that he was the Secretary General/Chief Executive officer of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Colombo Dockyard PLC.
The plenary speaker will be Dr. Ravihansa Chandratilake a charted architect who won many local and overseas awards for his research publications on sustainability and green construction. He is a prominent researcher, a practitioner and a consultant in green construction in Sri Lanka.
Guest speakers and their topics are: ‘Green concept: polices and expectation’ by Chairman of the Central Environment Authority Professor Lal M. Dharmasiri ; ‘Green concept, today and tomorrow: academic point of view’ by Chairman of the University Grants Commission Professor P.S.M.Gunaratne;
‘Advancement of technology; is it a threat or opportunity for green practices; institutionalising green practices in universities’ by University of Moratuwa Vice Chancellor Professor Ananda Jayawardane;
“Green practices in plantations” by Kelani Valley Plantations PLC (Hayley’s Group) MD Roshan Rajadurai; “Challenges of implementing green practices in Hospitals” by Browns Hospital CEO Dr. Iravian Thiyagarajah; and “Sustainability: From vision to action” by Jetwing Hotels Ltd Director Jude Kasthuriarachchi.
